Apple's Removes Mentions of Safari for Windows, But Version 5.1.7 Still Available For Now [Updated]

With today's release of Safari 6, there has been some confusion over the fate of Safari for Windows. Apple's Safari download page that previously allowed users to download versions for Mac or Windows now redirects to the main Safari page highlighting Safari 6 for Mac, with no mention of Safari for Windows anywhere in Apple's revamped Safari feature pages.

But while Safari for Windows has not been upgraded to version 6 and thus has not received the many new features included for Mac in that release, Apple does appear to be planning to continue quietly offering Safari for Windows. Listings for Safari updates in Apple's support download pages had previously summarized all available Mac and Windows version and provided a link to the general download page, but Apple has now placed Safari for Windows on a dedicated page linking directly to the download.

Safari for Windows remains at version 5.1.7 initially released alongside OS X 10.7.4 in early May. The software is clearly not a high priority for Apple, as evidenced by the removal of all mentions of the Windows option from the main Safari product pages, but the company is keeping the most recent version available for download. It is unclear, however, whether Apple has plans to bring additional feature updates to the browser.

Update: Apple has pulled the standalone Safari 5.1.7 for Windows download page, redirecting visitors to the previous version that links to the now-discontinued general Safari download page. As a result, it appears that Safari for Windows is now not directly linked anywhere in Apple's official download pages.

With Chrome providing a leading browser on Windows that uses Webkit and Apple's awful UI integration on Windows, is it any surprise the product never really took off ? Apple really pushes for developers to respect OS X's HIG, yet they completely fail to follow Microsoft's when porting their software to Windows.

With Chrome providing a leading browser on Windows that uses Webkit and Apple's awful UI integration on Windows, is it any surprise the product never really took off ? Apple really pushes for developers to respect OS X's HIG, yet they completely fail to follow Microsoft's when porting their software to Windows.

With Chrome providing a leading browser on Windows that uses Webkit and Apple's awful UI integration on Windows, is it any surprise the product never really took off ? Apple really pushes for developers to respect OS X's HIG, yet they completely fail to follow Microsoft's when porting their software to Windows.

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Apple fails in some of its own Mac OS X apps for HIGs. Look at Calendar, Address Book & App Store. Calendar & Address have totally custom GUIs, while the stoplight buttons in App Store aren't in the same place as other apps.

I would guess Apple released Safari for Windows in order to spur on adoption of advanced web technologies, Mozilla was moving too slowly with only IE as competition. With Chrome continuing to grab market share and WebKit browsers being utterly dominant in mobile its a case of job done.

Mozilla started the fight, WebKit (Safari) added fuel to the fire, Chrome basically forced Microsoft to make IE a great browser.

Windows 8 has a very high degree of hardware acceleration. I suspect Apple is doing a major revision for W8 of both Safari and iTunes.

Wouldn't it be weird if Apple made an appstore for W8 to incidiously capture more Wintel users by having a constant reminder some things work on both platforms, but more capabilities exist on the other.

I concur with webkit job done. Apple typically does not declare success, they just move on and eat their young by making the next thing. About 1/4-1/3 of those initiatives take in a major way. Lots of scrap on Apple's floor.

Apple could really use a legacy department for successful initiatives.

And let's for a moment even think there wasn't any HIG, just the plain fact that Apple doesn't use the OS's built-in UI widgets is just wrong to begin with. Just like GTK apps look and behave badly on OS X, OS X widgets behave and look badly on Windows.

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